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The Hindu
04-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Puducherry becomes first one to include screening for TB patients under initiative of Family Adoption Programme
Puducherry has become the first state to include screening for tuberculosis (TB) patients under the initiative of 'Family Adoption Program' where medical students adopt families as part of their community outreach. When medical students adopt a family, they also screen all members of the family for TB. If any member of the adopted family is found to have symptoms of TB, the students assist with both diagnosis and treatment, said Kavita Vasudevan, Head of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Puducherry, speaking to The Hindu. The National Medical Commission had previously made it mandatory for medical students to adopt 3 to 5 families and follow up with them for three years. Dr. Vasudevan added that to identify the reasons for TB-related deaths, Puducherry has now adopted an initiative of Verbal Autopsy. 'Using this method, doctors at IGMC, Puducherry, are investigating the causes behind deaths due to tuberculosis and identify both patient-related and health system related factors,' she added. She further explained that verbal autopsies are being conducted for 160 cases. 'The findings reveal that the patients present late to the health facilities, and the highest number of deaths occurs after 14 days of diagnosis emphasising the need for multipronged strategies to ensure early health care seeking behaviours,' she added. Puducherry's nine medical colleges are now working as pillars in the UT's TB elimination fight, contributing to 45% of TB notifications and actively participating in Active Case Finding (ACF) drives. Senior UT health official added that the medical colleges are supporting in terms of diagnostic facilities, have ear marked beds for TB patients, conduct IEC activities, and provide support at the community level. These institutions are working with the State TB Cell to identify vulnerable populations and map them as moderate or high risk. The mapped individuals are tested using highly sensitive tests – AI-enabled Handheld chest X-rays and NAAT – molecular diagnostics. People with co-morbidities and other vulnerabilities that predispose them to the disease, are identified in the database and are followed up with in the future case finding drives as well, added officials. The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) is being implemented in Puducherry UT from 20th February 2004 under Department of Health & Family Welfare Services and National Health Mission. Puducherry UT has only one NTEP district covering a population of 13.92 lakhs. It has 7 TB units, 28 TB Diagnostic Centres, and an Intermediate Reference Laboratory (IRL) at the Government Hospital for Chest Diseases with culture and drug susceptibility testing facility for diagnosing TB.


Time of India
24-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Sukhu govt turning patients into source of income: LoP Jairam Thakur
Shimla: Former chief minister and LoP Jairam Thakur Tuesday accused the state govt of turning patients into a source of income, and seeking ways to impose fees instead of providing them free treatment under the Himcare scheme. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Thakur alleged that as it is residents were not getting free treatment under Himcare due to govt's failures, and on top of that, the govt was planning to increase the charges for meals provided to patients at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here. "Besides, there is also a plan to charge a separate admission fee when a patient is admitted to IGMC. It will not be limited to IGMC, but will gradually be implemented throughout the state," he claimed. "Ever since the Congress govt came to power, the healthcare system in the state has deteriorated. Health facilities, health schemes, free medicines, free tests, and free treatment under Himcare and Ayushman have all failed due to the govt's incompetence," Thakur alleged, adding that the companies and institutions supplying medicines and materials to hospitals have been pleading the govt to release their pending payments.


Hindustan Times
23-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Woman killed by Nepalese tenant in Himachal's Shimla
By Press Trust of India , Shimla Jun 23, 2025 10:10 PM IST A woman was killed allegedly by a Nepalese tenant in her building in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district, police said on Monday. Santosh's son Devender Kumar filed a complaint stating that he found his mother dead on the floor on Sunday. (File) The accused was identified as Prem, 36, of Nepal and the deceased was identified as Santosh, 56, police said. Santosh's son Devender Kumar filed a complaint stating that he found his mother dead on the floor on Sunday. Shocked by this, he began knocking at Prem's door who lived in the same building, they said. However, Prem did not open the door. Growing suspicious, Devender broke it open and found him lying unconscious on the floor. Following this, Devender called the police, they added. Police reached the spot and sent Santosh's body for post-mortem. They also took Prem to the Solan civil hospital. He was then referred to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, for further treatment. During the initial investigation, police found that Prem was drunk when he killed Santosh. 'After committing the crime, he consumed some pesticide and was found unconscious at the scene,' superintendent of police (SP), Solan, Gaurav Singh said. Kumar also told the police that Prem had been living in the building for the past year. A case was registered under Section 103 (1) (murder) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Further investigation is underway,' Singh said.


The Print
23-06-2025
- The Print
Woman killed by Nepalese tenant in Himachal's Shimla
Santosh's son Devender Kumar filed a complaint stating that he found his mother dead on the floor on Sunday. Shocked by this, he began knocking at Prem's door who lived in the same building, they said. The accused was identified as Prem (36), a native of Nepal and the deceased was identified as Santosh (56), police said. Shimla, Jun 23 (PTI) A woman was killed allegedly by a Nepalese tenant in her building in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district, police said on Monday. However, Prem did not open the door. Growing suspicious, Devender broke it open and found him lying unconscious on the floor. Following this, Devender called the police, they added. Police reached the spot and sent Santosh's body for post-mortem. They also took Prem to the Civil Hospital in Solan. He was then referred to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla for further treatment. During the initial investigation, police found that Prem was drunk when he killed Santosh. 'After committing the crime, he consumed some pesticide and was found unconscious at the scene,' Superintendent of Police (SP) Solan, Gaurav Singh said. Kumar also told the police that Prem had been living in the building for the past year. A case was registered under section 103(1) (murder) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Further investigation is underway, Singh said. PTI COR HIG This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.


Hindustan Times
23-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Woman killed by Nepalese tenant in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla
Jun 23, 2025 04:55 PM IST A woman was killed allegedly by a Nepalese tenant in her building in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district, police said on Monday. The accused was identified as Prem (36), a native of Nepal and the deceased was identified as Santosh (56), police said.(PTI/File) The accused was identified as Prem (36), a native of Nepal and the deceased was identified as Santosh (56), police said. Santosh's son Devender Kumar filed a complaint stating that he found his mother dead on the floor on Sunday. Shocked by this, he began knocking at Prem's door who lived in the same building, they said. However, Prem did not open the door. Growing suspicious, Devender broke it open and found him lying unconscious on the floor. Following this, Devender called the police, they added. Police reached the spot and sent Santosh's body for post-mortem. They also took Prem to the Civil Hospital in Solan. He was then referred to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla for further treatment. During the initial investigation, police found that Prem was drunk when he killed Santosh. "After committing the crime, he consumed some pesticide and was found unconscious at the scene," Superintendent of Police (SP) Solan, Gaurav Singh said. Kumar also told the police that Prem had been living in the building for the past year. A case was registered under section 103(1) (murder) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Further investigation is underway, Singh said.